Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fast bowler Vaibhav Arora on Friday, May 02, lavished huge praise on star all-rounder Sunil Narine and said he is the most important player in the team. Narine proved why KKR valued him so much for over a decade after he delivered a game-changing spell against Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 29.
The veteran took three wickets and completely turned the game in KKR's favor by dismissing Faf du Plessis, Axar Patel, and Tristan Stubbs. Narine's efforts with the ball enabled a 14-run win for the three-time IPL champions side.
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"I will tell you that he [Sunil Narine] is the most important player for us, the pure MVP. For example, you take batting, bowling, fielding, and in the last match, you take captaincy. So, he is a pure all-rounder. He is a perfect bowler. He is one of the best bowlers and one of the best batsmen in the team. So, you are getting so much in the player, and he is the best player. In the last match, we won against DC. He bowled, batted, fielded, ran out, and also took captaincy. So, his role will be very important in the upcoming matches as well because he contributes to the team from both sides. So, if his form remains the same in the next matches, then we will definitely win," Vaibhav Arora told ANI.
So far, Sunil Narine has taken 10 wickets in nine matches for KKR, with a stunning economy rate of 7.70 runs per over. The southpaw has also scored 178 runs with the bat in hand, with a colossal strike rate of 174.51. Arora also opened up about why KKR fast bowlers are ineffective in this IPL 2025 season, as compared to their spin-bowling attack.
"This year also, as you can see, in the last 10 matches, Harshit and I have wickets. Because of the conditions, we played fast bowlers, spinners, and on-off. So, Harshit and I are playing permanently. I have 12 wickets, he has 11 wickets, and both of us have wickets. So, the fast bowling unit is doing well, but there is no third bowler who was continuously playing last year (Mitchell Starc); we are playing with spinners. So, that's why KKR, the fast bowling unit has less wickets."
Vaibhav Arora opens up about Ajinkya Rahane's leadership style
Lastly, Vaibhav Arora also spoke at length about the captaincy styles of Shreyas Iyer, who led them to a title last IPL, and about Ajinkya Rahane. The pacer said both are pretty similar in their approaches and both are perfect captains.
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"Both are good. Like, Shreyas is the same as Ajinkya Rahane. Like, whichever field we call, he shows the trust of the bowler. Like, if the bowler wants the field, he says, it's okay, whatever field you want, you can take it, don't worry about it. So, like, there is no difference between the two. Both are very supportive, and both trust the bowlers a lot. So, like, both are equally, I would say, perfect captains."
Speaking about Arora, he has had a decent IPL 2025 for KKR, picking up 12 wickets in nine games. In 29 IPL matches, the pacer has picked 31 wickets at an economy rate of 9.
